


Opponent

by noveltea



Category: Stargate Atlantis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-07-17
Updated: 2010-07-17
Packaged: 2017-10-10 15:20:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 854
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/101190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noveltea/pseuds/noveltea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teyla's thoughts during a sparring session with Michael.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Opponent

The only sound that she could hear was the pounding of her heart in her chest.

Behind stray strands of hair that had fallen loose of the ponytail, Teyla watched her opponent with wary eyes.

It wasn't the first time they had sparred.

It would not be the last time they sparred, although it had crossed her mind a thousand times that the next time it happened, it would be serious.

Real.

A fight to the death, where there could be only one winner.

In that kind of fight, Teyla would not accept death.

Her opponent, a worthy opponent in anyone's view, Michael was not who he appeared to be, and she couldn't put that out of her mind. No matter how hard she tried.

She straightened, eyes locked on his.

They were surreal to observe, as though he knew something about himself on a purely instinctual level that he couldn't verbalise. Couldn't pinpoint exactly what he knew, but knew that something was missing.

How else could he do what he could with no memory.

Muscle memory, she had told him. Day after day. Session after session. The body knew what he knew to do despite his mind not knowing.

"Again."

Her words cut through the silence of the training room. Today there were no additional observers, no doctors 'worrying' about his condition. Ronon had officially been banned from being anywhere near the training room when Teyla and Michael were occupying it. The first time, Dr. Weir had asked him to avoid Michael; the second time John had told him to back off. It was the third time, when Teyla had warned him to stay away from Michael, that Ronon had finally listened.

After so many training sessions with Teyla, Michael had learnt to obey that simple command, or she would knock him to the ground without hesitation. And true to form she had moved as soon as the words left her mouth, attacking with no sign of backing down. With quick, effortless grace, and a brutal intensity, she bore down on him, backing him into a corner, forcing him into fighting defensively when he should have beat her to the punch and started on the offensive.

The dull thwack of the sparring sticks hitting each other, fast and unending was a lullaby to Teyla's ears, and had been for as long as she could remember. Even as a child, she had been taught to fight, to watch her for the moves that her opponents would make before they made them and to account for it.

She had fought Michael before all this.

She knew how he fought, even if he did not know himself.

She knew that by backing him into a corner, he would fight his way out, with as much force as necessary. She still didn't agree that it was a wise idea, but she had been asked to push him as hard as she could, to make sure that anything that such training would not trigger the return of his memory.

As much as Michael wanted his memory to return, Teyla hoped it never did.

Just as she expected, with his back to the wall, Michael started to fight back with a greater level of intensity. The pattern was predictable, and she wondered if he understood that. She suspected yes, but she wasn't about to call him on it.

It took all her concentration to just defend his attacks. He was faster than she was, and he was stronger. Neither were truly enough to beat her, but each time she tried this scenario, he always increased the intensity, and for the first time Teyla was a split-second too slow each time she fended him off to switch their positions around.

In mere seconds they had crossed the floor, and now Teyla was pinned against the wall.

Both of them were breathing heavily, and her arms were trapped beneath the weight of his body holding her in place. Neither spoke; Michael never spoke during a session, and Teyla only did to spur him on.

Now she wanted to command him to stop, to let her go.

To do so would be to admit defeat, and she was not quite ready for that just yet.

There was something in Michael's eyes; a fire that burned through her. What she saw there scared her, and for a moment she believed that that his true nature had finally broken free from the confines of the medication and genetic manipulation that had taken place without his consent. She thought that he knew what he truly was and that all it would take was one move and he would break her in half.

And then, without warning, he broke off, pushing away from her.

The sudden movement caught her off-guard and she slumped to the floor, surprise on her face.

When he looked back over at her, his face was concerned, worried. Guilty over what he'd done. He just stared, as though he didn't know what to say.

She couldn't blame him; words failed her as well.

Without another word, he turned and left the room.


End file.
